POT PARTY CHIEF FACES CHARGES

EDMONTON -- Marc Emery, leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, is facing six
charges in five different provinces following a cross-Canada campaign to
establish that marijuana is no longer illegal in Canada. The latest came in
Edmonton on Monday when Emery was charged in court under the federal
Controlled Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) for possession of a controlled
substance. But Emery says the charge won't stand up because of a July 2000
ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal that said the government of Ontario
had a year to recognize the legitimate use of medical marijuana, which it
has not done. The ruling went on to say, Emery asserts, that if no new law
was introduced by the government within a year, cannabis would be suspended
from the CDSA list. Since June 19, he has set out to prove his point by
smoking half a gram of marijuana outside police stations in Toronto,
Winnipeg, Regina, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, St. John's, Calgary and
Edmonton. He has been charged everywhere except Toronto, Halifax and
Charlottetown.